‘Decimated’ Al Qaeda Holds Largest Meeting in Years…In Broad Daylight

By Mike Miller
http://www.ijreview.com/2014/04/130146-decimated-al-qaeda-holds-largest-largest-meeting-years/

For years, Barack Obama has called al Qaeda “decimated, “defeated,” and “on the run.” Recently in Yemen, the so-called “decimated” terrorist organization held its largest gathering in years – in broad daylight.

So, either the CIA and the Pentagon didn’t know about it – or couldn’t get a drone there fast enough to strike.

Video of the meeting has started showing up on jihadist websites. Via CNN:


In the middle of the clip, the man known as al Qaeda’s crown prince, Nasir al-Wuhayshi, appears brazenly out in the open, greeting followers in Yemen. Al-Wuhayshi, the No. 2 leader of al Qaeda globally and the head of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has said he wants to attack the United States.



But in the video, he looks unconcerned that he could be hit by an American drone.



In a speech to the group, al-Wuhayshi makes it clear that he’s going after the United States, saying “We must eliminate the cross. … The bearer of the cross is America!“

CNN’s national security analyst, Peter Bergen, says there’s good reason for the United States to worry:


“The U.S. intelligence community should be surprised that such a large group of al Qaeda assembled together, including the leadership, and somehow they didn’t notice.



The main problem about this group is that it has a bomb maker who can put bombs on to planes that can’t be detected.”

The bomb maker, Ibrahim al-Asiri, is believed to be responsible for several attempts against the United States, including the failed 2009 Christmas Day underwear bomber attack in Detroit.

CNN’s terrorist analyst, Paul Cruickshank, summed it up:


“His [al-Wuhayshi] message to the United States was very much the same as [former al Qaeda leader Osama] bin Laden’s: ‘We’re coming after you.’”

Clearly, al Qaeda is neither “decimated” nor “on the run.” While the U.S. intelligence community must now ask itself why it didn’t know about this meeting in advance, the more troubling question is what will Barack Obama now do about a terrorist organization that apparently refuses to be “defeated”?